Where Have the Spoons Gone?

The lunchbox is filled with delicious, nutritious lunch.  And a teaspoon.  Off it goes to school or kindy.  At the end of the day the lunchbox is returned full of bread crusts, apple cores, destroyed cling wrap and no spoon.  Where did the spoon go?

They seem to morph away in our house, maybe to the same place as socks?  I tried sending plastic spoons but after Danger Mouse turned his into a deadly weapon one day I had to stop.

Then I found these suckers (see what I did there?..).

And my lunch making days got a little bit more exciting.  No more missing spoons.  No more nasty unnecessary yoghurt preservatives.  And even Sprat, the anti-yoghurtist, would eat them.  They taste great, don't take up a heap of room in the lunch box and can be frozen over summer.  My lot fight over these.

I did get quite excited when The Collective contacted me asking me if I was interested in reviewing these.  Of course.  We are already majorly big fans in our house so it didn't take much convincing.

They also come with really cool collect-a-bull ABC magnets in each pack.  And they don't leave scratches on the fridge like some other magnets. The Girl loves to find the letters of her name and spell it out.

So if you have lunchboxes with worm holes that suck away spoons then these are the answer to all your problems!  I am so sold.

Rediscovering Plastic Animals

Hello sun!  After two days of cold temperatures and nasty winds, the sun shone through and blessed us with 26 degrees of awesomeness.

Not wanting to miss out, I spread out a big blanket under the tree and brought out our plastic animals.  These used to be a favourite a few years back.  They've since been relegated to a spot hidden far back in the Narnia space of the wardrobe.  I actually had forgotten we owned them.

So much opportunity for imagination play.  Danger Mouse was on them the minute they came out.

We had man eating crabs, shark riding giraffes and naughty lions that had to be tethered to the tree so they couldn't get away.

We spent from 1pm until around 5.30pm, with a break to pick up Sprat from school, just hanging out on our blanket, playing with the animals in between riding bikes and reading books.  Sprat even did his homework outside with the friendly help of a plastic elephant.

It was wonderfully relaxing and highly entertaining yet terribly simple.  Fingers crossed for another sunny day tomorrow.

Sewing Room Hoop Art

I've been collecting embroidery hoops on my op shop travels for a while now.  I had a vision of a wall in my sewing space filled with awesome fabrics in embroidery hoops.

Today I made a small start on that vision.  I am not sure how I feel about it yet though.  I am not loving it. But I am not totally hating it either.

Its OK.  Its a work in progress and we'll see where it goes.  There is room for improvement and allowance for change.

Unexpected Treats

Every now and then I like to surprise the kids with a hidden and unexpected treat.  Something they'll stumble upon as they go about their day.  Nothing ever big, just a small token to remind them how awesome I think they are.

Today it was a helium balloon each.  I tied them to their favourite toys and left them on their beds to discover in their own time.

Just a simple little gesture really, and so much love in return.  My children rock.  

 

New Discoveries - Te Waihou Walkway, Blue Spring

The Blue Spring, Putaruru.   The water is 11 degrees all year around and is so amazingly blue and clear.  We decided this would be the perfect place to take the kids on a hot day.  Totally underestimated 11 degree water though, even on a stinking hot day, it was bone chillingly cold. It was fun watching people squeal and squirm until it was our turn. Ice cream headaches are just a tickle compared to the all over body ache this water created.   Worth the experience though, it really is incredible.

With the 3 children we parked at the Leslie Road entrance (about 3.6km down Leslie Road, off Whites Rd, on the right hand side) and it was a short and really manageable walk to the popular swimming hole.  From Whites Road it is longer, around 4.7km long, but apparently a beautiful walk.  We'll save that for another day.

We went on a cicada hunt and Sprat was able to give us a lesson on the life cycle of a cicada as he has been studying them this week at school.  I had no idea he was so clued on up cicadas!

An awesome family walk - pack a picnic, throw in towels and togs and a snorkel if you dare. And bring some empty water bottles - you can fill your bottles from the spring.

Lemon-Coconut Bundt Cake : Scrumptious Company

Back into playgroup routine again (wahoo) so a good excuse to start baking again.  I tried this recipe for Lemon-Coconut Bundt Cake from Scrumptious Company.  It combines two of my most favourite things, lemon and coconut, and meant I could use my new baby Bundt tin.

A beautiful moist cake, with the flavours complementing each other and not to overpowering. As my bundt tin is just a baby, I made muffins as well with the leftover mix.

Its no exaggeration that its as good as Scrumptious Company states it is.  It really is.  For the recipe and beautiful photos check out the above link.  Nom nom nom.

Bibs, Wipes and Snap Press Machines

We welcomed a new niece into the family 3 weeks ago.  For my in-laws, this is number 12 Grandchild, and for my SIL her 4th baby.

I am guessing by the time number 3 and 4 babies come along, things like bibs and wash cloths are looking like they need to be doused in petrol and set alight.  This was certainly the case for me when The Girl entered the world.  

So I've made up a pile of nice fresh new wash cloths and bibs to gift to the new arrival.  

I cheated and brought a bib panel from Spotlight - I got totally sucked in by the cute owls.  And it meant I got to use my new toy - a Snap Press Machine!  Happy days.  The wipes are made of muslin - nice and soft and fast drying.

Stupid really, but I hadn't realised how easy bibs are to make, there are heaps of free patterns on-line, and you can never have enough with teething, dribbling and solid eating babies around.

For my SIL .... I haven't actually put these in the mail yet .... so I am being very naughty blogging about these before you see them.  Surprise.....